Karatoya : North Bengal University journal of History
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Karatoya: North Bengal University Journal of History publishes research ARTICLES and SHORT NOTES in English on History and its allied sub-disciplines and is published annually. It considers original research articles based on interpretation of freshly retrieved information or re-interpretation of existing database on the subjects. Review articles based on critical assessment of published database on specific themes are also accepted. Karatoya is a refereed and peer reviewed journal, published annually by the Department of History, North Bengal University. This is also an UGC approved journal of Arts and Humanities with serial No. 42512.
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Item Open Access Magh Raiders and the Mughals in the First Half of Seventeenth Century Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Roy, Varun KumarThis research article tries to understand the nature of Mughal defence against the Arakanese rulers in the first half of the seventeenth century. The atrocities of the magh raids in the various parts of medieval Bengal could not be countered by the Mughals because they were very weak at river warfare. The occupation of Chittagong by the Arakanese, making it a strong base for raids and keeping the Portuguese pirated as their front line of defence as well as attack kept the Arakanese rules at upper hand. It was only after the Fort of Chittagong was brought under Mughal rule; they could tame the Pirates and stop the raidsItem Open Access Babus and the Social Body in Conceptual Proposition in Early Colonial Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2020-03) Roy, Varun KumarEdward Said maintains: “Knowledge of the Orient because generated out of strength, in a sense, creates the Orient, the Oriental and his world” (Said 1978: 40). The emergence of the Babus brought new changes in the social atmosphere of early colonial Bengal. The elite, wealthy, western educated Bengalis began imitating western culture and were very much eager to forge a new social class, which would align them with the Britishers. This research paper tries to revisit existing literature in conjunction with historical texts to understand the formation of the Babu identity and how this was mirrored in the new social body that had come into existence.Item Open Access Negotiated Physical Spaces and the Economic Landscapes in Early Colonial Bengal (C.1757-C.1857)(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Roy, Varun KumarBernier has vividly described the wealth of Bengal about a century before British conquest. According to him, Bengal mass-produced rice in such profusion that it not only supplied its neighbors but many remote places. Bengal’s excess rice was transported by sea to Masulipatam and the ports on the Coast of Coromandel, Maldives, and Ceylon. Its sugar was exported to Golkonda, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Of commodities of value, silk and cotton cloth exported as far as Lahore and Kabul but also for all the neighboring kingdoms and Europe.2Verelst ascribed the prosperity of Bengal before Plassey to the “cheapness and quality and the huge traffic of the products manufactured. Besides the huge investments of the many European nations, the Bengal raw silk, cloth, etc., to a vast amount was dispersed to the West and North inland as far as Gujarat, Lahore, and even Ispahan.” 3 This research article tries to address how Bengal which was once very developed in trade and commerce was total ruined.economic degeneration of Bengal began since the days of Alivardi (if not earlier, from MurshidQuli’s time) to hold that the oppression of the company’s servants and gomastas were alone responsible for the decline of Bengal manufacturers and industries and that this began closely after Plassey, is to see from only one side of a coin.Item Open Access Understanding the ‘mofussil’ and the ‘ditch’ in early colonial India(University of North Bengal, 2018-03) Roy, Varun KumarAt the beginning of the 19th century, the term Mofussil meant 'outside the limits of Calcutta' since the limit was for a while the Maratha Ditch dug around Fort William in the 1740s. Europeans (missionaries, merchants and planters) who lived in Calcutta they were called ditchers and those who lived outside the Maratha Ditch were known as Mofussilites. However with the passage of time the meaning of the term got changed and it could be studied in juxtaposition to rural-urban dichotomy. In this research article, the origin of the term Mofussil is investigated and how the original connotation has changed with the passage of time in the early 19th century. Mofussil always stood in contrast to bigger cities like Calcutta but it was always linked to the cities through the Zilla Sadar towns.Item Open Access Urbanisation, Trade and Markets in Colonial 6engal: A Case Study of Murshidabad (C. 1757-1857)(University of North Bengal, 2017-03) Roy, Varun KumarCity planning is not a colonial or modern invention. A tightly executed plan is vividly discernible in the scores of unearthed ruins of the Harappan Civilisation that flourished more than four millennia ago. Its cities and townships had grid patterned streets. uniform rows of brick housing, plumbing, public baths, drainage, granaries and other public spaces and amenities that strongly presume an efficient and well-endowed, if somewhat unimaginative municipal ' administration.1 The earliest connection of the East India Company with this district was marked by the establishment of a factory at KasimbazarItem Open Access Rajmahal: A Medieval Town in Subah Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2016-03) Roy, Varun KumarFar below Gour, but still in high repute, is Rajmahal, which has drawn interests to scholars of history. The city founded by Raja Mann Singh and adored by Sultan Shuja, at one time rivaled Delhi in splendor and luxury. Up to recent years we can spot many vestiges of the work done by Raja Mann Singh and Sultan Suja. Bishop Heber remarks of the palace of Sultan Sujah, of the stone roofed and delicately carved balcony 'stills retain traces of gilding and Arabic inscriptions. ' This paper tries to resurface the lost pomp and opulence of the 'Town' and the nucleus of the whole argument aims at revival of history of 'Medieval Eastern Bengal ', which is still in oblivion.Item Open Access In Search of the Ecosophy: Enviornmentalism in Buddhist Philosophy(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Roy, Varun KumarHis Holiness Dalai Lama says, "Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed, and lack of respect for the earth's living things. This lack of respect extends even to the earth's human descendants, the future generations who will inherit a vastly degraded planet if world peace does not become a reality and if destruction of the natural environment continues at the present rate. This paper gives an in depth study on the notion of environmentalism in Buddhist Philosophy. A special mention is made of the Jataka tales that beautifully enumerates the environmental philosophy in Buddhism.Item Open Access Historical Geography of Pre-Colonial Bhagalpur(University of North Bengal, 2012-03) Roy, Varun KumarItem Open Access Urbanisation in the Regional Areas of Medieval India: A Case Study of Bhagalpur(University of North Bengal, 2011-03) Roy, Varun Kumar